


to love as unconditionally as a dog

by dragonesdepapel



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dogs, F/M, Fluff, adrien loves his dog, everyone loves adrien, so everyone loves his dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 15:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8759305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonesdepapel/pseuds/dragonesdepapel
Summary: "Yeah, you know, pets teach about responsibility.”
“Dude, you have a job, how much more do you need to learn about responsibility?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Vicky!!  
> You asked for Adrien with pets and here it is. Like, months later but whatever, I tried. I hope it was worth the wait. And thanks again for naming the dog when we first talked about it or this might never even left my drafts.

To be honest, no-one is more surprised that things worked out than him. Which sounds pretty pessimistic of him to say but it is not like his dad has the best track record when it comes to things like this. Not that Adrien is complaining, because there is also no-one happier that things had worked out than him. Well, maybe except for his new friend.

“He looks happier, right?” Adrien asks Plagg.

“Considering you found him soaking wet and with an injured paw I’d say it should be, kid” Plagg answers from where he has curled up on his desk, not bothering to approach him and the dog.

Seeing he isn’t going to get much encouragement from the kwami, Adrien turns his attention back to the puppy he had found on the street. Plagg is right, considering he had found him shivering and whimpering, he does look much better now. He still looks a bit nervous, but Adrien figures that it is normal. He is in a strange place surrounded by strange people after all.

“Yeah, you were pretty lucky I saw you, weren’t you?” he says softly and then laughs in delight when the puppy barks back at him. “Did you hear that?” he says to Plagg.

“Please tell me you don’t think the dog actually answered you.”

“What? No, of course not. But we found his name! Didn’t you hear? I said Lucky and he barked!”

Plagg doesn’t look impressed with that information but at least he gets up and approaches them.

“You want to name the dog who’s going to share living quarters with the cat embodiment of bad luck ‘Lucky’?”

“Yes, because he barked” Adrien confirms.

“I’m pretty sure he barked a little after that.”

“Shut up, Plagg. That’s _has_ to be his name now, haven’t you seen the movies?”

“Look, I don’t care about the name, kid, I care about the dog. They are the most uncivilized of creatures” Plagg says, making faces at the pet.

“Says the thousands-years-old who can’t clean up after eating.” Adrien mumbles under his breath “Look, the dog is staying here because he doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and I’m going to look after him and you are going to be ok with it. Besides, my room is big enough and you fit inside a pocket, I’m sure you’ll work it out.” He doubts a pout would help him win over Plagg’s mostly cold heart, but he throws one in anyway.

“Ok, fine, but keep him away from my cheese.”

 

* * *

 

“So you are telling us that you came home late, soaking wet from the rain, with your shirt all muddy and carrying a stray dog and you somehow talked your father into letting you keep it?”

“Yeah, you know, pets teach about responsibility” Adrien says seriously.

“Dude, you have a _job_ , how much more do you need to learn about responsibility?”

“Ok, I might have hinted at how lonely the house feels with him working every day…” he admits.

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be the best one out of us?” interrupts Alya.

“What?”

“You know what I mean, the one who will support us no matter what but that subtly edges us into taking the high road and being responsible. You can’t be the responsible friend who looks out for us if you emotionally blackmail your dad.”

Adrien thinks that he should defend himself but he had kind of done that, so it would be a bit hypocritical of him. He’s saved from having to formulate a response by Nino, who starts laughing somewhat hysterically.

“Wait, you thought Adrien was what, the mom friend?” Nino manages to ask between bouts of laugher.

“Yeah no, that’s really not me” Adrien says with a smile.

“This guy” Nino points at Adrien once his laughing ends “has a climbing wall in his room. And a zip line. And zero safety measures for any of them. He wouldn’t know common sense if he fell on it from his skateboard ramp.”

“He’s right” Adrien agrees, cheerful smile still on his face.

“Well who would you have it be then? We _need_ a mom friend.”

“What about Marinette?” suggests Adrien.

Alya snorts. “As if.”

“Hey, what does that mean?” Marinette says because it’s easier to participate in the conversation if she’s affronted by Alya’s comment than if she’s flustered by Adrien’s smile.

“Girl, you know I love you, but you make some really questionable decisions.”

Which, rude, but Marinette can’t really argue with that so she settles on a frown “It’s not like you could be either.”

“Of course not! Half of my advice consists simply on ‘kick their ass’ or ‘let me kick their ass for you,’ I’m the sister friend for sure” Alya says proudly.

“Ok, I got it. It’s Nino.”

“That’s even worse. I’m not letting Nino be the voice of reason in this group.”

“Thanks babe.”

“Can we get back to the dog? I want to know his name” Marinette interrupts.

“His name is Lucky.”

“Lucky? Seriously dude?”

“Why does everyone have a problem with the name?”

“It think it’s a cute name” says Marinette.

“Thank you” he says solemnly.

“I’m still not over the part where your dad agreed to this. Is he really letting a dog run around that mansion?”

“I would have asked for a pet years ago if I knew that it would be that easy. But technically, Lucky is only allowed in my room and the garden. I know, I know” he says, seeing Alya’s frown. “A dog should have plenty of space, especially one that will be as big as he’ll probably be. But my room is huge and he can play in the garden.”

“Yeah Alya, just wait until you see his room. He could fit a whole pack there.”

“Anyway, I’ll just find him a new home if this doesn’t work out. I wouldn’t want him to be unhappy there. But at least I have to try, you know? He was already abandoned once.”

“I know, and I’m sure you’ll do great” says Alya, reassuringly. “So, when can we see it?”

“Well, not today, because I need to take him to the vet again and make sure his paw is healing properly, buy some things for him and generally ask what the hell I’m supposed to do with a dog. Then I have photoshoots almost every day this week…” Adrien says, thinking out loud. “Would next Monday be ok? I’ll have most of my afternoon free and my dad has some business outside the city.”

“Is that important?” asks Alya, confused.

“Yes, because strictly speaking I’m not allowed in his house” replies Nino cheerfully. “Yeah, count me in.”

“I’m good with Monday too” says Alya.

“And you Marinette?” Adrien asks the girl.

 “Yes!” she shouts which elicits a chuckle from Alya. “Sorry” she adds, lowering her voice. “Yes, I’m free. To go. To your place. I’m free.”

“Great! I’ll tell Nathalie to keep my schedule clear that day.”

Later Nino tries to tell a joke and knocks over his drink because he starts laughing right before delivering the punchline. Alya sighs as he takes the bottle from his hand and hands him a napkin.

“And you want him to be our moral compass.” 

 

* * *

 

“What? How? _Why_?” are the first things that come out of Alya’s mouth when she gets to Adrien’s room.

Marinette does her best to appear as surprised as her best friend. It doesn’t take much effort since she’s quickly discovering that no matter how many times she has visited his room as Ladybug, there are still things that she hadn’t noticed before. One could argue that it was because she was occupied with keeping everyone safe from the akuma of the week, but it’s probably just the fact that Adrien’s room is full of stuff. Expensive stuff and maybe dangerous stuff.

But she quickly forgets about the room and focuses on the puppy that’s currently running around Adrien’s feet. It’s small, and it’s blond, and its paw has a little bandage and it’s _adorable_.

“Is that a custom made dance machine? And a basketball ring? I suspected your father must try to buy your love with money but I didn’t think he would reach this far” Alya continues, because she’s not that into dogs and apparently isn’t into common courtesy either, and Marinette briefly considers strangling her.

“Alya!” she reprimands instead, because the damage is already done and she doubts witnessing a murder will lift Adrien’s mood.

“Sorry” Alya says to Adrien, at least looking apologetic.

“It’s fine, I know it’s too much” he doesn’t look up from where he’s greeting his dog. “Ok bud, ready make some new friends? Now,” he says, looking at his friends, “he seems to really like people, and he took really well to his new living situation, so that’s good. But he _was_ abandoned and got injured, and is still in a new place, so the best is to let him meet you one by one and not crowd him, ok?”

“I’m first!” Nino says, as he walks calmly towards them.

“I’m not supposed to make comments about how it looks like you bought an entire pet store either, right?” asks Alya.

“No, you are not, because I was trying to make him comfortable. And because I’ve never had a pet and I might’ve panicked a little but that’s completely normal, so you are not judging me, ok?”

“Ok” Marinette answers dutifully, because she has decided that she’s not trusting Alya with this conversation anymore.

Lucky seems to like Nino well enough, so then Adrien tells Marinette to join them.

“I know you have like, a library on the second floor of your room but do you think it will be enough to fit all those ‘how to take care of your dog’ books you bought? Because seriously, I didn’t even think there was so many of them in the world.”

Resigned, Marinette stops walking towards the cute, so very cute puppy she’s dying to meet.

“You, go pet the dog and stop talking, please.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, kid. Wake up.”

“Plagg?”

“The thing is scared.”

“What?”

“The thing. I think the storm is scaring it. It keeps shaking and whimpering. It’s really annoying.”

“Is it?” Adrien asks, only partially understanding what Plagg is saying.

“Yes, it is. I even tried petting it but it didn’t work. You have to do something.”

Struggling to keep his eyes open, Adrien gets up and starts looking for his dog.

“Lucky” he calls. “Where are you?”

“Under your desk” supplies Plagg.

He kneels next to it and finds the dog, looking pretty terrified.

“Hello there” he says softly. “Are you scared of the storm? That’s ok, I used to be scared of them too. But don’t worry, I know what I have to do. My mom used to sing to me until I calmed down. I can’t really remember the lyrics now. Or the melody. But it’s ok because I can’t sing anyway. But I’ll keep taking to you, don’t worry. We’ll get through this storm together. I promise it will go away soon.”

Slowly, he reaches out and attempts to pet him. The dog startles at the touch at first, but after a while he relaxes under the caresses and the soft tone of the boy, who doesn’t stop whispering words of encouragement. When Lucky finally stops shaking, Adrien deems it safe to pick him up and carry him to his bed.

He sets him down carefully and then gets in, trying to make himself comfortable without disturbing the still scared puppy next to him. Lucky scoots closer to him once he is done moving. Plagg hovers over them for a while before settling on the dog’s back, near his neck.

“Wake me up if he wants to get down” mumbles Adrien, already halfway asleep.

Kwami and dog are still sleeping peacefully together when he wakes up the next morning. He gives them until he gets ready to leave for school before picking up Plagg and stuffing him into his pocket, then carefully moving Lucky to his dog bed.

* * *

 “My phone hates me” Marinette moans dramatically as she sits down next to Alya.

“What is it doing this time?” asks Adrien sympathetically, turning in his seat to look at her.

“It says that it has low data storage and it doesn’t let me update anything. I’ve already deleted everything I don’t need. I don’t know what else to do.”

“I can help with that. Give it to me” says Nino, extending his hand.

She takes it out of her purse and hands it to him. She watches as he pokes around in her phone for a few seconds.

“Ok, it should be better now, at least for a little while. You do have a lot of pictures though, can’t you just save them on your computer and delete them all?” he says as he gives it back.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. She’s weirdly protective of her pictures” chuckles Alya.

“It’s not weird” says Marinette defensively. “I like to have them with me wherever I go. They remind me of good times. And I don’t keep all of them on my phone. Only the important ones.”

“Sure, the important ones” repeats Alya and Marinette knows that tone, knows that she should back away now because her friend would have no qualms about thoroughly embarrassing her to win this argument.  But Marinette is not one to back away from a challenge, and it’s _her_ phone anyway. She knows there’s nothing incriminating in there.

“Yes, the important ones” she confirms.

“So exactly how important is it to save every single photo of his dog that Adrien has sent?”

“Wait, you keep all of those?” Nino interrupts, preventing her from answering. “But he sends like, five per day. No wonder you ran out of storage.”

Marinette would have answered, really. After all, there’s a reason she keeps them and she’s not ashamed to admit it. But Ms. Mendeleiev walks in and the class starts, and she loses her chance.

She all but forgets about the conversation as the day drags on. But then school is over, and they are the two last ones to leave the classroom and Adrien brings it up again.

“Do you really keep them all?” he asks softly.

“Yes. I mean, not all of them because they really are a lot but yes, I do keep most of them.” He isn’t asking, but she knows that he wants to know. It would have been far easier to answer this earlier, when she could focus on Alya’s challenging look. Now there’s only Adrien and his kind smile but still, she can do this. “Because he’s really cute and I love dogs. And, you know… he’s yours and he makes you happy so it makes me happy too.”

There’s a second after she stops talking where she feels like pumping her fist in the air and making a victory dance. She starts thinking about buying some ice cream on her way home and maybe even treating herself to that nice fabric that she saw on a store the other day because really, she deserves it. She talked to her crush alone, even hinted at her feelings for him and she did great. Then Adrien’s smile gets impossibly bigger and she thinks that ok, that’s reward enough.

 

* * *

 

“Adrien, what are you doing?”

“Oh, Nathalie, I didn’t see you there” he says, trying to close the door quickly so she won’t be able to see inside.

“What did the dog break?”

“What? Nothing, he didn’t break anything. Why would you ask something like that?” he says too quickly. He couldn’t have sounded guiltier if he tried. He’s a model, isn’t he supposed to know how to control his expressions?

Nathalie stares at him.

“Ok, fine, he chew on a pair of shoes” he relents.

“Which pair?” Adrien looks the other way. “The ones that you are wearing at the interview on Friday?”

“Maybe… Please, don't-“

“I’ll get a new pair here by tomorrow.”

“What?”

“I’ll order a new pair of shoes. They’ll be here by tomorrow.” She repeats, and Adrien would think she was teasing him if it wasn’t you know, Nathalie.

“Really? Thank you so much Nathalie!” He feels a weird urge to hug her, but she doesn’t think she’d appreciate it. Unsure of what to do, he starts turning back towards his room.

“And Adrien?” she calls him back.

“Yes, Nathalie?”

“I trust this won’t be happening again.”

“Of course not. Thank you again.”

This time he does go back to his room and, after a second, grabs the ruined shoes and sets them down next to his dog again. Lucky barks happily and sets to play with them again.

 

* * *

 

“I’m not telling you to get rid of the dog dude, I’m just saying that the least you could do is to stop wearing black so much."

“You can’t tell me how to live my life.”

“You are a model, don’t you care about how you look?”

“C’mon Nino, we both know I look hot even covered in all this dog hair.”

They are both distracted from the argument by the sound of a furiously coughing Marinette, who choked on her drink.

“Hey Mari, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m fine” she manages to say.

“You sure? You are looking quite red.”

“Yes, I’m totally fine. I’m great. Amazing even.”

“Ok, I think he got it Marinette” Alya cuts her off before she can keep babbling as she rubs her back soothingly. Adrien is still looking at her though, so Alya thinks it better to continue talking. “I don’t understand how you get that much fur on you. Do you let him sleep on your shirts or something?”

“Of course not! It’s just that he gets very affectionate in the mornings because he knows that I’m leaving.”

“That’s adorable” Marinette says, still a bit flustered but trying to recover.

“You” says Nino pointing at Marinette “stop supporting his poor life choices, and you” he turns to look at Adrien again “stop making poor life choices. I’m getting you a lint roller and I want to see you use it.”

Instead of arguing, Adrien smiles to Alya.

“See? I told you he was the mom friend.”

 

* * *

 

Lucky is on him the second he gets through the door. He’s getting bigger, so it takes Adrien a while to get past him and lay on his bed.

“Just one second boy, I promise we’ll play in a second, ok?”

He stretches a hand so he can pet Lucky from his bed and that seems to calm him down a little. It’s his fault he’s so excited, he has barely had time to take him for walks and play with him this week. He has only managed to spend the absolutely necessary time with him and that’s not enough. His dog deserves more. But he had a photoshoot this afternoon and an exam before that and had stayed up battling an akuma the night before so he needs five minutes here. Just five minutes and he’ll get up and be the owner he promised he would be.

There’s a knock on the door on minute two.

“Coming.”

Lucky follows him to the door, of course he does, because Adrien has spent so little time in his room this week he’s afraid he’ll leave again.

“I’m not going anywhere, ok? I’m just going to answer the door.”

He opens it keeping a hand on the dog’s collar, trying to calm him down.

“What is it Nathalie?”

“The chef wanted to ask if you were comfortable with her getting the dog from your room and taking it to the garden during her lunch hour. And your bodyguard has offered to take him to the park in the mornings, while you are at school. Is that acceptable?”

“Of course it’s acceptable! Tell them thanks! No wait, I’ll do it myself. Seriously?”

“Of course Adrien, have I ever not been serious?” And that, right there, is a smile. Sure, it might seem like her mouth is still the usual expressionless line but Adrien knows the truth. Nathalie is smiling at him.

“Wow, that’s great. Thank you, again. Lucky will be so happy!”

“I’m just delivering the news, Adrien. Now, I have other things to do, so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Thank you!” he repeats once she has made it all the way back to the stairs. He can’t see her face, but Adrien’s sure she’s smiling.

 

* * *

 

“Why is he barking at me?”

“You need to greet him.”

“What?”

“Just pet him a little.”

“Ok, I have to be honest with you guys, I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“You ok?”

“No, I mean, with the dog. I’ve never had a dog. I thought I could just fake it till I made it but I’m not even sure if I’m petting him right. He just stares at me, is that a bad thing?”

Adrien approaches them and kneels next to her.

“There’s no wrong way to pet a dog. Well, at least there’s no wrong way to pet this dog. But his favorite spots are here and here” he says, moving his hands over them. “Sometimes he drops to the floor or tries to but most of the times he stays put so you can do your thing. His ears drop and he whimpers when he’s scared, he growls when he is angry. That happened only once. If he nudges your legs he’s either hungry, bored or wants you to pet him. Good luck figuring out which one. I think that’s it. Any questions?”

“No, I think I got it.”

“I have a question” says Nino from where he has already seated himself on the couch. “But first, come here and get this thing started. I’ve been without video games since exams started, you’ve seen your dog every day anyway.”

“Just for that, I’m going first” Adrien says and grabs the first controller. He hands the second one to Marinette.

“Yeah babe, that was kind of rude” seconds Alya from where she’s still petting Lucky. He follows her when she gets up to join the others on the couch.

Lucky nudges his owner’s leg, but Adrien and Marinette have already started a game so his hands can’t leave the controller.

“Just one second bud” he tries, but knows that it’s pointless. “Could you pet him for a while?” he asks Nino, since he’s sitting right next him. But it’s not enough for Lucky, who starts trying to climb into Adrien’s lap.

“Ok, wait, we can’t keep going like this” says Marinette as she pauses the game. “Please show your dog some affection.”

Adrien happily obliges, lifting his dog until he can sit comfortably on his lap.

“Isn’t he a bit big to do that now?”

“What are you talking about? He’s still a puppy.”

“Sure, but he’s a _big_ puppy Adrien.”

“So? He’s going to get even bigger and he will still sit on my lap. You are just jealous because you won’t have a giant dog to keep you warm in the cold months.”

“No, I will have a blanket like a normal person.”

“As much as I love hearing you two bicker about nothing, I believe we were in the middle of something. Are you ready, Adrien?” Marinette asks.

“Sure.” He stops petting Lucky and tries to concentrate on the game again. Marinette is good, but she’s not undefeatable and today he’s determined to prove it to her. That’s until he remembers something else. “Nino, you had a question.”

“What?”

“A question, remember? You said you had a question earlier and now I won’t be able to concentrate fully on this until you tell me what it was so you better remember” he says, his eyes never leaving the TV screen.

“Oh, yeah. What does Marinette carry in her purse?”

“Why would you want to know that?” asks Marinette, amused by the question.

“Nino, you can’t just ask what’s inside people’s purses!” scolds Alya, because she feels like it’s the right thing to do.

“What? It’s a totally valid question! Lucky tries to sniff it every time we come here” he defends.

“Oh, that. It’s probably…” she stalls for a while, pretending to be too preoccupied by the game. “The cookies! My mom always packs me a cookie. You know how she is, always worried that I will get hungry” she finishes with a little laugh that hopes didn’t sound as awkward as it felt.

“Chocolate chip cookies?” Adrien says, and Marinette could swear she almost saw his ears perk up.

“Yep.”

“You know chocolate is very poisonous to dogs, right?” asks Alya.

“Of course, that’s why I always keep my purse away from him” Marinette says, feeling a bit irritated at the comment. Like she would ever do something to hurt the dog.

“Don’t worry Marinette, I trust you.” Adrien turns away from the screen to smile at her, and usually that would make her feel all flustered, and she would probably lose the match because of that. But Marinette has been getting better at dealing with Adrien’s smiles so she takes advantage of his distraction and pushes his character of a cliff.

“You _cheater_!” he practically shouts. Well, at least it’s as close as Adrien has ever gotten to shouting.

“It’s not my fault you were distracted, Adrien” she says condescendingly.

“I was offering you reassurance! I trusted you and you stabbed me in the back!”

“Whatever, is not like you were going to win anyway.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“That’s it, you are going down.”

He starts a new game and he’s trying to sound challenging but the picture he paints with the too large dog still sitting on top of him is pretty ridiculous. Marinette would like to send him her best Ladybug look but they are just too cute so she settles for trying to stop the giggle that it’s building up in her throat. She doubts he’d appreciate it.

Nino is about to complain that it’s his and Alya’s turn to play but his girlfriend grabs his arm and looks at him threateningly and that’s the end of it.

 

* * *

 

Adrien has never seen his dog like this. He’s growling while viciously scratching at the studio door, and all of Adrien’s attempts at gently getting him away from it have been futile. It’s a good thing his father isn’t home, he would have heard the commotion by now and Adrien is sure he wouldn’t appreciate the way the dog is treating the door. Worried that the dog might cause permanent damage to it, Adrien resolves to just grab him by the collar and drag him away. Lucky tries to resist but the boy is stronger. They make it two steps away from the door when the dog leaves out a loud bark.

“Lucky!” he scolds.

The door to the studio opens behind them and Adrien turns slowly, a sense of dread filling him.

“Father, I thought you were at work.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” his father asks. “Is this how your dog usually behaves?”

“No, of course not, father! This is the first time he has done something like this. I don’t know what caused it but he’s behaving now, see?”

Adrien gestures to the dog, who is standing rigidly next to him. He isn’t causing any trouble but Adrien can feel more than hear how he is quietly growling from where he is pressed up against his leg. Worried, Adrien puts a hand on his head, hoping it will help calm him down. He doubts he would attack Gabriel, but since his father is the only person his dog has ever acted hostile towards he can’t help but worry. It occurs to him that this is possibly the first time his father has seen his dog since he brought it home for the first time, and the thought somehow manages to make him feel even worse about the whole situation.

“It better be the last one. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated at this house” his father says with finality, already turning to go back to the other room. The conversation is over and Adrien should leave it at that, but a sense of injustice flares in him, urging him to speak again.

“He’s a dog. You can’t expect him to be perfectly quiet all the time.”

“Then I’m afraid you will have to find another arrangement for it. This is my house and I expect to be able to work in peace whenever I want to. If you can’t get him to-”

“No, wait.” The interruption earns him a raised eyebrow. It’s not polite to interrupt. It’s disrespectful to interrupt one’s father. But the fear and desperation pushed out the words that years of education tried to keep down. “I can. I just did, see? This won’t happen again, I promise.”

His father turns around without another word. Adrien watches him walk into de the studio and close the door behind him before running to his room as fast and quietly as he can, his dog close behind.

He lets himself slide to the floor once he’s safely inside. He absently notices that Lucky hasn’t moved far from the door either. He’s sitting still, staring at it. Plagg flies out of his pocket and looks worriedly at the dog, before focusing on Adrien.

“Don’t worry kid, he wasn’t being serious. He was just annoyed at being interrupted. He wouldn’t really take the dog away.”

“You don’t know him Plagg. He would. He has. But it’s ok” Adrien says calmly. “Lucky is the best dog. He is patient, he rarely ever barks, he doesn’t destroy anything that isn’t shoes, he doesn’t pee where he isn’t supposed to. He’s the perfect dog, Plagg” he repeats.

“Kid?”

“He’s the perfect dog! He does everything he’s told, he never causes any trouble. But it isn’t enough. It’s never enough for him.”

Before Plagg gets to answer, Lucky abandons his post in front of the door to curl up against Adrien. It’s something he does often, but Adrien can’t help but feel that maybe he has a different reason for doing so this time.

“You are enough for me” Adrien murmurs against his fur, before getting up get started on his homework.

 

* * *

 

 

“Look, I know you don’t want to let go of the ball, but I also know that you want me to throw it, so we are going to have to compromise, ok?” he says, trying and failing to reach the ball that is being held captive by Lucky’s jaws. “C’mon, don’t be like that. It’s only for a few seconds, then you can have it again.”

“You know he can’t understand you, right?” says Plagg from his chest pocket.

“I wish you couldn’t understand me” Adrien grumbles. He makes another attempt at grabbing the toy and this time manages to get a hold of it. It only prompts his dog to bite harder onto it, reluctant to let it go. Adrien pulls it for a few seconds, before he hears the dog start to growl. “Ok, that’s it. If you don’t want to play, then we don’t play.”

Releasing the ball, he walks around the park until he finds an empty bench. Lucky follows him merrily, like he wasn’t making threatening sounds at his owner just a few seconds ago. He starts nuzzling Adrien’s leg the moment he sits down, offering the toy. Adrien is about to try to take him from him again when suddenly the dog seems to lose any interest in him. Before Adrien can pinpoint the cause of his distraction, Lucky takes of running. Alarmed, Adrien chases after him.

After a few seconds he realizes that they are running towards Marinette. Slim, petite Marinette, who’s probably not even aware that a huge dog is about to knock her down. He tries to catch up with him, but in the end he’s too slow, and can only watch as his dog throws himself at Marinette.

She doesn’t fall. Lucky practically lunged at her, and is now pressing his huge paws against her chest and she’s laughing as he tries to lick her face despite the ball the he’s still holding in his mouth. She didn’t move an inch from where she was standing before the dog leaped at her.

“Yes, I’m happy to see you too” she coos. “I think you lost something” she adds, looking at Adrien as he finally gets to them.

“Sorry about that, he has never done it before.”

“Oh no, it’s no problem. I’m glad I ran into you. Or well, that you ran into me” she amends.

He chuckles. “I really thought he was going to knock you down.”

“Why? Because I’m small and fragile?” she asks, rolling her eyes. She gets Lucky down on his four legs and then kneels down next to him.

“Of course not” he says, flustered. “Because he’s huge and solid and he has made me fall down a couple of times.”

“Please, don’t compare yourself to me. It’s not my fault that you are small and fragile” she says without looking at him, her attention focused on petting his dog.

“I’m taller than you” he blurts out. It’s a pathetic response, he knows. But the truth is that this bold side of Marinette, while being very welcomed after months of having her stuttering in front of him, sometimes throws him off a little.

“You are lucky both my hands are busy at the moment, Agreste” she says as she continues to pet his dog, “or I would have to teach you a lesson.”

“No, please, not in front of my dog” he begs, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Ok, I’ll let you off the hook for now. But only because I like you.”

She looks like she’s about to say something else when suddenly Lucky demands her attention again. He pushes at one of her hands with his snout, which is still holding the ball.

“You want to play?” she asks, trying to grab the ball only to have Lucky move away from her. “No, let it go. We can’t play if you don’t drop it.” She extends her hand towards him. “Drop it” she says firmly and, to Adrien’s surprise, the dog actually does.

As Adrien fights with his shock, Marinette grabs the ball and throws it away.

“How did you do that?” he asks in amazement once his dog is already running to fetch it.

“I told him to give it to me.”

“I know, I saw. But he never gives it up when he’s playing with me. I always have to snatch it from him.”

“That’s because you are too soft” she giggles, poking his shoulder. “If you want him to listen to you, you’ll have to be stricter.”

“Maybe I want to be soft. He’s a dog, I don’t want him to be scared of me.”

“Don’t worry Adrien, you are doing great. Anyone can tell Lucky is a really happy dog and that he loves you a lot.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

 

* * *

 

“I hate to tell you this, Mari, but you are staring.”

“I know, I know, but it’s not what you think.”

“Right, sure.”

“No, seriously. It’s just that… remember that silly saying about dogs looking like their owners?”

“Yeah.” Alya looks at where Adrien and Lucky are trying to get Nino to play with them. “I don’t know. They are both blond and ridiculously photogenic but there’s not much…” She stops herself because boy and dog choose that exact moment to pout and tilt their heads, which prompts Nino to sigh and reach for the nearest toy.

“Wow. I take it back, you are totally right and I’m starting to get seriously concerned about the amount of time those two spend together.”

 

* * *

 

“Blue is your favorite color, right?” Marinette asks absently as she scribbles on her sketchbook.

“Yes, it is. Why?” Adrien replies, trying to get a look at what she’s working on.

“Don’t!” she says sternly, keeping it out of his sight. “It’s a surprise.”

“I hate surprises, it’s better if you just tell me now.”

“Shut up, you love surprises.”

“Ok, I do. But I’m going to be as surprised now as I will be later, so you might as well show me now” he reasons.

“That’s not how surprises work, Adrien.”

“It’s going to save you a lot of nagging. I’m going to bug you about it until you tell me.” Marinette just crosses her arms and doesn’t reply. “Please? I really, really, really want to know” he begs, going as far as pouting.

They stare at each other for a few seconds, until finally Marinette sighs and hands him the sketchbook.

“You are worse than a child” she complains. “Since winter is coming, I thought about making some clothes for Lucky. I don’t want him being cold when you take him to the park. And I’m also making him a new collar because the one you picked is so boring.”

“There were too many options and I panicked, ok? And black is a great color” he defends as he turns the pages on the sketchbook. The fact that she has given so much thought to something as simple as dog clothing completely floors him. “I love them, thank you” he says sincerely.

“You would have loved them more if you had waited until I had actually made them” she scolds but this time she can’t keep the fond smile off her face.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s the third time this week. The third time Lucky has chosen to sleep on his dog bed, rather than Adrien’s king sized bed. And he knows it’s not because his dog _wants_ it. It’s because Plagg is determined to prove himself as the most annoying being in Earth.

“I know you are doing it on purpose Plagg! You know if you curl up on top of him before I can go to bed he’ll just stay with you.”

“You took an hour long shower and I was tired after having to transform you twice in a day, kid.”

“Why didn’t you sleep on my bed? I thought you didn’t like dogs.”

“I don’t, but I’ve already told you he’s comfortable. If I have to put up with him he might at least make himself useful.” 

 

* * *

 

It’s way past midnight when Adrien slips inside his room and lets the transformation drop. Lucky is waiting for him by the window, like he always does. He used to bark every time Adrien had to sneak out at night and then bark again every time he had to sneak in. Somehow, between Plagg and Adrien they had managed to make him understand that he needed to be really quiet whenever Adrien approached a window. Sometimes Adrien thinks that the dog doesn’t sleep at all until they get back, but he can’t be sure. He know that animals hear things they don’t, so it’s more probable that he always wakes up whenever he hears them coming back.

Regardless of the reason, he’s always there to greet Adrien after a long night of battling akumas. It’s also pretty convenient for Plagg, who usually lets himself fall on his back and nods off instantly. He does so tonight, Adrien can hear him snoring before he even reaches the bathroom, the next step in his late night ritual.

Lucky is sitting patiently by the bed when he gets back to the room, Plagg still on top of him. Adrien is not sure how they manage to do that, it doesn’t sound very likely for the god of bad luck. But Plagg doesn’t fall tonight, like he didn't all the nights before, not even as Lucky climbs onto the bed once Adrien has already situated himself among the sheets. It’s a pretty cold night so there’s nothing stopping Adrien from curling up close to the dog.

He’s tired, and it was only a little while ago that he had been nervous and scared. The akuma had been a particularly violent one, and Ladybug had received more than one strong punch. Chat had, too. But he's not scared of getting hurt, that's a risk he had accepted when he had decided to protect Paris. It's the possibility of watching Ladybug disappear before his eyes what gets to him.

Lucky licks him once before closing his eyes and Adrien wills himself to do the same. He hopes that Ladybug, wherever she is, feels at least half as safe as he feels right now. He knows she deserves it.

**Author's Note:**

> A few fun facts about this fic:  
> \- The only reason I said dogs when presented with the general term 'pets' was because the expected answer would have been for me to say cats. I based everything Lucky does on things I've seen my friends' dogs do. And I asked lot of questions. They were a bit confused about my reasons. I explained nothing.  
> \- Did you know that it's really hard to find the ending for a story that doesn't really have any plot? Because I do now.  
> \- The title is from a quote by M.K. Clinton because I'm the worst at titles so I decided to give up and googled "sayings about dogs"


End file.
